See Also: pretender(dictionary)
Old Pretender, the(dictionary)
pretender(dictionary)
Young Pretender, the(dictionary)
James Edward, the Old Pretender(encyclopedia)
Charles Edward, the Young Pretender(encyclopedia)

pretender (iou)



pretender noun. L16.
[from PRETEND verb + -ER1.]
A person who intends. rare. Only in L16.
A person who puts forward a claim to a title or office, esp. to a throne. E17.
the Old Pretender, the Young Pretender Hist. the designation respectively of James Stuart (1688-1766), the son of James II of England, and Charles Stuart (1720-80), son of James, who successively asserted their claim to the British throne against the house of Hanover.
Times Literary Supplement A..laughable pretender, whose periodical attempts to win the throne of France always ended..in ridicule.
b. A suitor, a wooer. E17-L18.
A person who has pretensions to a quality or who makes a profession or assertion, esp. falsely or without adequate grounds. (Foll. by to.) M17.
F. Weldon Here was no pretender to the mad state: this was the real thing.
Pretenderism noun (Hist.) adherence to the cause of the Old or Young Pretender E18.
pretendership noun E18.